ABJ Scots Week at a Glance (SWAG)
April 25 - 29, 2022
This weekend in our church we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. In the Roman Catholic Church, Easter has always been a celebration of the great love that God has for His Creation. A love that was shown when the Divine Son became incarnate and dwelt among us, sharing in our lot, showing us the way to the Father, and making the perfect offering in atonement for our sin.
Blessed John Paul II once said: “Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the risen Christ, a gift which it offers to all humanity.”
Bill Pollingue, Ponder These Things, 2018
A wonderful gift that we will all appreciate this week is the opportunity to participate in person in a full mass. Our school, in partnership with OLPH Parish, will be offering multiple masses this week to our student body and we are forever blessed by the leadership of our chaplain Mrs Murphy and the students who have stepped up to support her in the various ministries. Parents are welcome to join us on April 26 for masses at 9:00 am (Grades 10 and 11) and 10:15 am (Grads 9 and 12).
Important Dates
April 25
- Environment Club at lunch time in room 219
- Track and Field Info and Sign-up meeting at lunch in the small gym
- Boys' Rugby practice at 3:30 pm
- HS Badminton Quarter Final Playoffs at Memorial beginning at 4:00 pm
- Boys' Handball vs. Ardrossan at Leduc. Game begins at 5:45 pm.
- Boys' Handball vs. Leduc at Leduc. Game begins at 6:45 pm.
April 26
- Easter Mass
- Grad Committee Meeting at lunch time in room 221
- Improv Club at lunch time in the theatre
- HS Badminton Possible Semi-Final Game at Mother Margaret Mary beginning at 4:00 pm
- Boys' Rugby vs. Paul Kane at Lynn Davies Field. game starts at 4:30 pm.
- Girls' Handball vs. Bev Facey. Game begins at 5:00 pm.
April 27
- PEP Day. Please choose a session prior to noon. Students staying in the building must select a session to attend.
- GrACE Content Deadline (see details in Faith News and Development portion)
- Crafty Cards for Seniors / Senior Pen Pals at lunch time in room 149
- Games Club at lunch time in room 215
- Music Club at lunch time in room 184
April 28
- PAC Mental Health Presentation with Elizabeth Stolte (see details in Parent and Student News portion)
- Rubik's Cube Club at lunch time in room 151. Bring your own cube!
April 29
- Prayer for students and staff at 8:10 in the ABJ Chapel
- Fortitude Club at lunch time in room 131
- Boys' Rugby at Lynn Davies Tournament on Friday and Saturday
Games at ABJ will be live streamed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSgf0GxNMoj1sf0l9rnceMw. You can also access games through the ABJ Athletics page on FaceBook.
Upcoming events...
May 4
- Early dismissal
May 6
- PD Day. No school.
May 18
- Indigenous Grad Blessing at ABJ
May 27
- Grad Blessing at ABJ
May 29
- Grad Commencement and Evening Program at Edmonton Convention Centre
Parent and Student News
Visitors to ABJ
Student Absences
In addition to contacting the office, parent(s)/guardian(s) of students who miss class and/or exams due to absence are advised to contact teachers directly to determine a course of action for completion of work and/or assessments. Google classroom will continue to be accessible for all students who are absent.
Parents: How to Stay Connected
In order to stay up-to-date with your child's attendance, grades, and assignments, please review the following informations. If you require more support, please do not hesitate to reach out to the front office for support.
Google Classroom:
1) If you wish to be invited to receive notifications about the schoolwork posted in your child's Google Classroom please email their teacher and request to be added as a guardian.
2) Shortly thereafter you will receive an email to confirm this step. Going forward you should receive an email summary of your student's work, which contains information about missing work, upcoming work, and class activity. You will only have access to your child's work. You can unsubscribe at any time.
PowerSchool:
If you wish to learn more about the assessments that your child has submitted to their teacher this semester please do the following:
Review their current mark and to determine what tasks have been assigned recently.
Use this link to access the info: https://powerschool.eics.ab.ca/public/
If you have questions about their progress, you can send a message to your child’s teachers here: https://abj.eics.ab.ca/contact
Call our school at 780-467-2121 to connect with someone who can help.
Join Us For An Evening Of Wellness!
Are you feeling exhausted with an overwhelming number of responsibilities? Parenting teens today, and in the past two years has presented us with some unique challenges. When life becomes overwhelming, we can forget to tune into our own needs and this may lead to increased stress. If you are feeling like life has been a bit too much lately, this presentation will help you! Join us as we explore the topic ‘Why taking care of yourself is the first step to taking care of others’. Elizabeth Stolte, Master level Canadian Certified Counsellor and Certified Music Therapist, will be our guest presenter and lead us in learning to regularly implement self-care, so we avoid setbacks in our overall health and wellbeing.
Join us IN-PERSON or ONLINE, Thursday, April 28, 7:00-8:30 p.m. at the ABJ Library.
RSVP to abj.parent.council@eics.ab.ca
Upon registration, online participants will receive the meeting link and presentation resources.
*This presentation is made possible through a grant provided by Alberta Education
Excellence in Catholic Education Award
Indigenous Education Committee Update
Student Council Update
ABJ's beloved Ultimate Scavenger Hunt is returning. See more info on grade level google classrooms and to sign up a team for your chance to win! We can have 20 teams!
Cheerleading Showcase Thank You
ABJ Choir
Pitch-In Week Continues!
ABJ Stands with Ukraine
Grad Information
GRAD LIST
Our School Team has finalized the 2021-2022 Grad List. This list has been published on the Grade 12 Google Classroom which all students and parents were invited to at the start of the school year. If you are not yet part of the classroom, please contact the front office to be re-invited. If your child's ABJ ID does not appear on this list, it could be for a variety of reasons. It could be that they are missing a necessary requirement in order to attain their Alberta High School Diploma, perhaps we are waiting to access progress on essential course marks, or has your student completed their Gold Book (including having met with a Counsellor to review its content).
Please direct any questions or concerns to Mrs. St. Amand or Mrs. Glass in Student Services, or Mr. Lakeman (the grade 12 administrator) so that we can work together to ensure that you are able to take part in ABJ Graduation should that be academically feasible.
GRAD SLIDE SHOW
Grads: please check the Grade 12 Google Classroom for submission of one baby photo and one middle school photo for the slide show. The due date for completing this was April 22, but we are happily still accepting late submissions.
GRAD UPDATE
A letter detailing upcoming dates and information for Grad 2022 was sent out to all grade 12 students and parents/guardians last week. Please see the link below for the letter and review it if you have not already done so. We kindly ask that any queries in regards to grad come after reading the letter closely- questions can be sent to this email: abjgrad@eics.ab.ca. Advisors will review the questions and provide responses at their weekly after-school Monday meetings.
Faith News and Development
Learning Spotlight
Creative Writing Information
For anyone who was unable to purchase a book from the Creative Writing Class in past semesters, you are now able to check them out of the Strathcona County Library as well as our own library. Stay tuned for more info about this semester's anthology as well as an upcoming night of celebrating writing!
PEP Service at OLPH Parish
Bio 20 and Chem 20 with Mrs. Tyrkalo
ABJ Athletics
Boys' Handball update
Track and Field
Juniors Learn to Row Program
Badminton, Handball, Rugby, and Soccer Apparel 2022
Deadline to order is May 5, 2022. Note: clothing must be paid for at the time of order for it to register.
See the link below for the full catalogue of apparel.
Student Services, Wellness & Counselling Supports
Scholarship Information
If you head back to your Gold Book - there is an entire section dedicated to JUST THAT! We would encourage you to reference back to start applying. Scholarships truly are a case of the time you put in to them is what you will get out of them!
As a quick list - here are a few websites that have the best scholarship opportunities!
You can sign up for notifications of new scholarships too! Today alone, Scholarships Canada sent a notification of 4 new awards, ranging in description from "Voice for Animals High School Scholarship", to "Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Scholarship", to Youth Awards, worth anywhere from $500 to $3000! There are THOUSANDS of dollars up for grabs, you just need to apply!
http://studentaid.alberta.ca/scholarships/
www.scholarshipscanada.com
http://www.alis.alberta.ca/et/fo/funding-post-sec.html
www.alis.alberta.ca
www.yconic.com
https://scholartree.ca/
http://www.canlearn.ca
https://studentawards.com/
www.learningclicks.ca/
Women in STEM Scholarships
The Government of Alberta announced April 7, 2022, $732,500 in new scholarship funding for women studying in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Grade 12 students entering post-secondary in the fall may apply for a grant valued at $2,500 to engage in a STEM-related program. Part of Alberta’s Recovery Plan, this one-time top-up funding aims to advance gender equality and support women to succeed in the fulfilling career of her choice. The next application intake for the Women in STEM Scholarship Program will open in fall 2022.
Sponsored Learning Opportunity in Power Engineering- Women Building Future (WBF)
Women Building Futures (WBF) is proud to partner with Inter Pipeline and Pembina Pipelines to offer a Power Engineer Career Accelerator Program (PECA) to encourage more women to enter a career that has traditionally been under-represented. The Career Accelerator is a 2-week sponsored program to prepare students to begin a 2-year program at NAIT or Lakeland College. While completing the NAIT or Lakeland College program, students will have the opportunity to attend paid co-op placements with Inter Pipeline or Pembina Pipelines. Students will be required to pay for their tuition to NAIT or Lakeland but upon completion of the program, they will be given the opportunity to apply for full-time roles with Inter Pipeline and Pembina Pipelines.
Power Engineering is a fulfilling career opportunity for young women. If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please attend an upcoming information session:.
DATE: April 27, 2022
TIME: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Click here to join the meeting [case sensitive] https://bit.ly/3kaEDf7
DATE: April 27, 2022
TIME: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm Click here to join the meeting [case sensitive] https://bit.ly/3Omgxvy
If you have any questions, please feel free to connect. Hope to see you there! womenbuildingfutures.ca
Wellness Moment: 5 TIPS TO HELP TEENS COPE WITH STRESS
More than nine in 10 Generation Z adults (ages 15-21) express that they have experienced at least one physical or emotional symptom because of stress, such as feeling depressed or sad or lacking interest, motivation or energy,” according to research published by the Canadian Psychological Association.
High school teens spend most of their time attending classes, participating in extracurricular activities and doing homework. There is constant pressure to do everything and do it well to prepare for a successful career or higher education after high school. This can cause a lot of stress.
When they do have time, teens most often turn to media and communications activities, including watching TV, using social media and the internet and calling or texting friends. Although these can be helpful ways to relieve stress, the excessive use of technology can lead to lack of human connection and feelings of loneliness.
Use these tips to take a break from the barrage of constant communication and manage your stress in a healthy way.
Student Opportunities
Cafeteria Menu
Culinary Delights will be operating out of our cafeteria full days moving forward. Please help support our cafeteria so we can continue with this very important in-house service!
Please stay tuned to all of our communications for weekly offerings and more information.
Communications
Please stay informed on all things ABJ through the weekly Smore, website, blog, and on social media.